Since SR4 has been announced, and the system is radically different, will the books due for release before the fourth edition be dual system for rules and stats? Since the fourth edition has been announced I think a lot of people may be put off buying the new books if they are only 3rd edition stated. Yes I know the books won't have much in the way of game system data, but there's bound to be some. Also dual formatting them would be a nice teaser for people.

An interesting idea.

I don't think that it will happen, although it is an interesting idea. Chaosium has done so with a few books (Arkham and Dunwich): they have the stats for classic CoC and a conversion to CoC d20 on the last pages.

It was also tried with L5R for a while (d10 and d20 systems, both in the same sourcebook).

From what we've heard, I don't think it'll be a big issue for these last few books for SR3, will it? They've been talking like they're both just sourcebooks, not adventures or anything. What would we need stats for?

Either Critical Error or System Failure are supposed to be a campaing-book like Brainscan was. So there surely will be stats in it.

If they did, it wouldn't be the first time that there have been Shadowrun books that spanned editions. The releases immediately before and immediately after the release of 2nd edition supported both 1st and 2nd, at least in their initial printings.

I wasn't around at that time, started playing SR after the 2nd edition had been on the market for one year or two.

1st to 2nd was a rather big jump, rules-wise. That may have been a contributing factor to the "dual edition" books surrounding that transition.

I don't think 1st to 2nd was such a big jump, the sourcebook update in 2nd ed. covered most 1st ed. books in only about 3 or 4 pages.

Maybe a small hop.

You won't need if you only have to adjust the stats of the npcs.

L5R did do dual-rules books for a time, and they're now dropping the d20 version and running with their house rules with the new edition coming out in a month or so.
The dual stat books made neither side happy, really. Either way you had to put up with being able to use only half of the stats and rules of the book you just bought.

In a sourcebook aren't that much new rules, hopefully, to worry about. And the stats of the relativly few npc can easily fit in three or four pages. I mean, most adventures and sb only have a handful important npcs whose stats are fully fleshed out.

Personally I think it scary dangerous to release SR3 books so close to SR4 release. You run a serious risk of confusing new players (the aim of SR4) with a "new" book that doesn't match up with his newly purchased BBB.

However it would be a serious time crunch to try include SR4 rules based stuff in a document released before the SR4 rules are.

Let's get this perfectly clear: as far as anyone knows System Failure is a SR3 product all the way. It is a major event book with a unique format which will bring change to the SR universe on global scale and open the way for the jump to 2070 and SR4. If anything it represents the catalyst for what setting changes are made in SR4. Nobody has said it will include any SR4 rules or content so don't jump to conclusions.

Besides the fact that it will say "For use with Shadowrun 3rd Edition" on the backcover and in the intro... besides this book is so juicy it'll have sold out by then .

I tend to think dual statted books aren't going to be in the cards as they almost always significantly increase the page count. For the most part the dual statting people speak of is reserved for companies that are trying to support two simultaneous systems. Chaosium seemed to try to do that with d20 and BRP before they realized d20 CoC was utterly hated by CoC fans and GoO and DP9 seem to do that for Tristat and Silcore. For the most part though that's because they want to have some tie ins to the d20 market and they are wanting to maintain dual systems despite the headaches involved.

However being that FanPro isn't wanting to do SR d20 the idea of trying to please people with backwards compatible products seems pretty unlikely. However if sales of SR4 don't pan out it would certainly be a way of selling new products to the SR3 grognard population

Of course it will have dual-stats: d20 and d20 Modern!